Wednesday, November 11, 2009

House of Jola, LDA, Zizi… stormed New York




By OYINDAMOLA LAWAL
Top Nigerian designers, House of J’ola, Lanre Da Silva Ajayi, Zizi Cardow and Hallero recently stormed New York City at Couture fashion week and Mercedes Benz fashion week.
While the Mercedes Benz showcased ready to wear, the couture fashion week displayed couture clothing from all over the world.
The show was held at the prestigious Waldorf Astoria, a hotel, which hosted United States president Barack Obama a week after the fashion show.
CEO of the franchise for the couture fashion week International Business Consortium Nigerian Limited and the originator of Nigeria's Next Super Model, Joan Okorodudu led a team of well multi talented and creative designers, which zinger the event with zestful and up-to-the-minute designs.
Okorodudu stated that her happiness had no bounds especially seeing Nigerian ambassador to the United Nation, Professor Joy Egwu who was only give less than twenty-four hours notice.
The couture fashion week witnessed the likes of world-class designers like Walid Atallah, Soucha, Ruben Campos, Andre Aquino and so many others. However our own Nigerian team started off with Lanre Da Silva Ajayi of LDA who did not disappoint the crowd, however showcased her usual vintage yet sophisticated in a manner that constantly seen raising the bar at all time.
The pretty unique and versatile designer, Da Silva Ajayi also showcased her designs at the Arise fashion week in Johannesburg where she used Six Nigerian top models, which she paid them from her pocket. Da Silva Ajayi has been a champion for Nigerian models; this was proven again in New York when she used all Isis models such as Bunmi Ademokoya, Isi Atagamen, Omoye Eromosele, Faith Amadi and Uzodinma Ugwiuanyi.
Next on the stage was award winning Zizi Cardow; she wow the crowd with her collections and ended the show with the blue and black master piece, which swept the crowd off their feet. Her collections were very classy and the crowd gave a cheer when she walked majestically to take a bow.
Zizi 's collections were a fusion of Africa and western fashion, which was very alluring.
In the same veins, Hallero also showcased her latest collections, one of which is a piece with calabash worn by a sixteen year old model from the Bahamas, brought her ingenuity. Seeing the young model strutting the runway with two tiny calabashes made a lot of people wonder if Africa has come of age. Her collections at the fashion week were just fantastic.
Joan Okorodudu of House of Jola was the last to showcase, she displayed her latest work using amazing combinations of African and western fabrics with her signature designs fully geared towards the youth. She also light up the runway with her male collections, very urban that had appliqués, jackets to mention a few.
MTN Project Fame West Africa winner, Nyaya opened the Nigerian show with our national anthem. According to Okorodudu, “it is in line with branding Nigeria in her own way.” the Nigerian ambassador Professor Joy Egwu was so happy as she jumped up on the front row with her hand firmly on her chest; it was a proud moment for our great country Nigeria.
Nyanya also thrilled the audience with his latest single, which earned him a pink rose from a young girl in the crowd. Bayo Hastrup, international Nigerian make-up artist was also one of the official make-up artists for the event.
Incline with branding Nigeria, Joan Okorodudu enhanced her outfit with a Nigeria flag brooch and wristwatch.
“ We are looking forward to the February fashion week in New York. Isis models had succeeded in booking models worldwide; in July Bunmi Ademokoya modeled at Paris Fashion Week, Nigeria Next Super Model will be held in couple of weeks. More so, two Isis models and product of Nigeria's Next Super Model have just been signed by two top agencies in New York. As we say goodbye to the two of them we also welcome new faces and those who will become Nigeria's Next Super Models.” Okorodudu said

On A.D.E runway



By OYINDAMOLA LAWAL
A WOMAN wants to look her best and is willing to try almost anything to enhance her appearance. You can make any outfit jump from ho-hum to fabulous just by supporting and enhancing your natural curves.
From the sexy and seductive to simple and sweet, intimate and appealing fabrics were showcased at the African Design Expo (ADE 2009), which held from November 7 to 10 at Expo Hall, Eko Hotel and Suite, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Models showcased fabrics made into mouth-watering styles, which include lace, leopard print, chiffon, ruffles, satin, sheer, hosiery, wedding lingerie, chemise, new wonder bra, frills, men pants and tights to mention a few.
Also on display were two-piece sets to mix and match, tights, corsets and one-piece.

FROM Patience Torlowei of Patience Peace Lingerie, the best of lingerie was on display from the formed and fitted to push up and control, no seam or full seam, and the ultras — this and that.
Also, from the ever-popular thongs to bra straps in a myriad of colours and bold patterns, the barely visible and clearly visible, Peace Lingerie made bold statement as they shone through the thin fabric of blouses, cotton shirts and lightweight sweaters.
The show was really an opportunity to change perception of African fashion. It was a month to see the creativity of African designers.
According to Queen Ahneva Ahneva Adeniyi Adegeye, Africa Design Expo is not going to be a one-off project. “We plan to take the show round the continent; it’s not going to be Nigeria alone. We will do everything possible to get this show to other parts of Africa. What this whole thing is about is that, we need an African design centre. We intend to institutionalise the project and create a world-class standard that will have immense potential of being an annual vehicle that will tour Africa and continue to represent Nigeria positively in the eyes of the world.”

Glam on Sisi Ologe Red carpet

By Oyindamola Lawal
The taste level at Sisi Ologe red carpet ran the gamut from flawless to glamorous. But somewhere in the shuffle of all of those sequins and stilettos, former model and the publisher of FM&B magazine, Linda Ikeji stepped in a Little Black dress and a trendy black footwear to go.
Most times, celebrities know the way to get the cameras clicking has to be with the use of colour and drama; punchy, petite Omawunmi knows this better than most. Dressed in a simple short dress, Omawunmi rocked the red carpet.
Also seen on the red carpet were gorgeous cropped jacket, Little Red Dress, Empire, one-shoulder dress, spaghetti, bum short to mention a few, coming out in different colours and fabrics as enhanced with trendy accessories and jewellery.

Sisi Ologe explosion

BY OYINDAMOLA LAWAL
OGE with Iretiola, a foremost fashion and style TV show in the country, which has been airing since 2000, no doubts, has come a long way especially, in its projection of African fashion.
Last Friday, October 16, Sisi Ologe, an offshoot of the show, held at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Cadenced by glitz, glamour and panache, featured a host of talented designers and musicians such as T-Boz, House of Moofa, House of Odycee and Tavarez, among others displaying the best of African haute couture.
The show started off with up-coming designer, T-Boz, whose models strut the runway in the outfit’s latest collections.
Yinka Fashola of House of Moofa showed his 2010 collections ranges from tight to bum short, frills, jumpsuits, ball skirt and dress, to mention a few.
The outfit was applauded for its creative designs, one of which was the lace umbrella and a trendy tube evening gown made with damask and organza. Moofa’s choice of colours, fabrics and the details on his outfits were very encourging.
House of Odycee and Tavarez were not left behind in the creative ingenuity that enveloped the Sisi Ologe show.
They amazed the crowd with their classy and unique designs. The designers played with fabrics such as adire, aso-oke, ankara, mercury, taffeta, george, satin, chiffon, among others.
The showstoppers were the short evening dresses, sparkly, leg-baring evening numbers carried off with number mix-and-match options with enough special details to keep things interesting.
For the hours that the show lasted, there was a cause for hope that the beautiful designers are continually emerging by day in the country and very soon, the world will soon explode in African designs.

At war with cancer


BY OYINDAMOLA LAWAL
HER passion for helping people, most especially, women, made her study Psychology in the university. But importantly, she was interested in making impact in the society. One possible battle line is cancer: the breast and cervical variants.
For this, Orode Jade Uduaghan has established a foundation. In fact, while studying abroad, the 20-year-old graduate of University of Window, Canada and the founder of Pink Pearl Foundation discovered the need to create awareness on breast and cervical cancer, among Nigerian women.
The foundation started in October 2007 as a passion to help Nigerian women have good health. “We had a concert to raise money in December 2007 at Expo hall, Eko Hotel, Lagos. Artistes like P Square, Banky Wellington, Olu Maintain and a lot of comedians performed,” she says.
When the foundation started, she discovered that the knowledge of cervical and breast cancer among Nigerian women was poor so she decided to go on a ‘state to state’ campaign.
“We have a lot of countries that know about these diseases. I schooled in Canada and every month, there is some sort of awareness campaign in schools even at secondary schools. So, an average 15 years old girl has a clue of what this disease is and how to prevent it. But coming back to Nigeria, my heart bleeds to see that Nigerian women have no clue about these diseases,” she stresses.
Jade says, “since we started this campaign, we have had a lot of people come up to us, asking what breast cancer and cervical cancer is all about? ‘What should I do?’ ‘How should I go about it?’ And that is where the passion and drive came from. It is actually killing a lot of people and if you have noticed, it is increasing more than it was before. We are also embarking on state-to-state campaign as another medium. We have done one in Asaba last month and it was a huge success.”
According to the young lady, “we were able to go round Asaba, went to the markets, walked for a very long time, shared handbills and talked to people about breast cancer even in Pidgin English. We also did one in Lagos recently, with the first lady of Lagos State, Abimbola Fashola… we walked from Onigbongbo Market (Maryland) to Alade Market (Ikeja), she stresses. Basically, our goal is to create this awareness for Nigerian women on breast and cervical cancer.”

WITH two years of waging war, treating and teaching women on breast and cervical cancer, Jade Uduaghan believes that using entertainment medium and advocacy campaign to reach out to Nigerians will help in achieving the goals of the foundation.
“We were able to raise some money and thereafter, embarked on a campaign and seminar, where we invited a lot of women, who were given free talk and free breast check up in Warri. We had over a thousand women in attendance, and over 50 women had free breast checkup. Thereafter, we went ahead with a concert in 2008. We got money to help us do our project in Warri, where we had Faze, Kefee and a good number of people to support our concert and performed.”
She adds, “we used the money we got from the first and second concert to get a manual grand for the Central Hospital in Sapele, Delta State that was in December 2008. We did yet another campaign in January 2009 in Asaba. We had over a thousand women again at the campaign, free check up, and since then we have made a lot of progress. We carry out daily free check-ups for women in Asaba, Delta. We have two doctors that are working with the foundation that carry out these daily check-ups. So women are able to just go in and get themselves checked if they want to and someone they can consult.”

ONE of the experiences that have kept Jade going on the campaign in spite of the challenges was the death of her aunt as a result of breast cancer.
She reveals, “yes, I lost an aunt in 2005 due to late detection of breast cancer. She was pretty young. That again was another push and we had to do something about it.”
Jade says one of her greatest challenges is to make people come out for test on time. “There is a lot of emotional challenges because you get to meet a lot of these women; they come to you when this disease is already deadly. Early this year, we had a case of a woman, who came to me when we had our campaign in Asaba. She showed me her breast, it was already gone but we can’t say no, we did the surgery for her but after two weeks, she died.
“These are the kind of things we face; a lot of people come to us but they don’t come early enough and by then our help can’t really do enough, we cannot do as much as we would want to do to save their lives. We also have challenges of funding but losing people has always been one of the major challenges.”
For many, inspirations come from their experience and God, but to Jade, she gets her inspiration from her patients.
She says, “ yes, I have had a patient that really inspired me. There is this youth corps member, who is undergoing Chemotherapy now. The major problem women have is, if I take away one breast, what will become of me? But she did not put that as a set back and had operation. She is now perfectly fine, she is doing everything she needs to do and it is not noticeable and obvious but she has just one breast. She has given me that drive to still go on doing what I am doing.”

PINK Pearl was coined from woman’s colour and jewellery. She explains, “the pink for me is woman; it is a colour for woman. The pearl is a precious stone; basically it is a woman being precious. When we put it together we got Pink Pearl. I know it is very impossible to say that breast cancer will vanish forever. We want to get to a point where at least every woman can decide what to do at anytime to detect it early. Because what we discover is people come to us when it has gotten to a stage where we can do nothing about it.
“We help them but at the end of the day, it is not productive because they don’t survive. Early awareness is our motive and goal, which is what we are preaching. If you know about this early, you can get to us and you can save your life. We are trying to create early awareness about early detection.” She added
How has she been able to get funds for such a huge and tasking project? She disclosed, “We get funds from companies, individuals. For example during the concert, people bought tickets 10 times more than the actual price as a donation or a gift. And sometimes individuals just come up and pick a patient and pay for treatment. Also, we get sponsorship from companies. But no money coming from daddy.”
Of course, a lot of people would think she embarked on this project because she is a governor’s daughter. Jade Uduaghan, however says, “If you know me and ask people around me, you will know that I have the passion for helping people. I’ve always had this passion to help people. In my secondary school, I was the health prefect. Because of the zeal to help people, I decided to read psychology. Helping people is what I really love doing, even if I am not in this position as the governor’s daughter, I will still do it, but thanks to God I am here. It has given me the upper hand and the opportunity so I might as well just use it.”
Her advice to Nigerians is, “for the men, we always preach, do not look down on your wives, who have had one breast removed as a result of breast cancer but that they should show them love. For the women, after treating them physically, we build their mentality that they can still go on with life with one breast and after talking to them about it they can now move from feeling depressed.”
She says. “We reshape their mentality and after that we noticed their life begins to change from depression to a more stable state. We do a total package, total wellbeing. Then we let them know that they should put their faith in God who created us all. Cervical cancer is the most difficult; breast cancer is what you can see but for cervical cancer, you don’t even know you have it. We are preaching go and get check-up. And when you know you really cannot afford the treatment, we will do it for you.”

JD7 Unveils 2010 Collections

BY OYINDAMOLA LAWAL
WITH five years of celebrating, promoting and recreating African fabrics and fashion, one of the a-list fashion outfits in the country, JD7 is set to unleash its 2010 collection as part of its anniversary celebrations.
Tagged Spectrum Extreme, the show is scheduled to hold on Sunday, November 8, at the ballroom of the Victoria Crown Hotel, Ajose Adeogun, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The high profile fashion house, over the years, has attracted patronage both national and international for its ability to use in-expensive African wax print material.

DATA Edna Okorodudu, proprietor of the wave-making outfit, has innovatively transformed African fabrics into delightful and wearable works.
With every anniversary, the outfit has played on a theme, which tends to celebrate Africa’s creativity.
From And Light permeates Darkness (2005) to Unlocking the potential of Africa (2006) and Colours of Africa (2007), there has been a celebration of fashion done the African way
Destination Africa, which was the theme last year, featured a number of Africa designers and their collections.
Okorodudu disclosed that Spectrum Extreme would show 2010 designs ranging from chic daywear to elegant evening ensemble, office wears, ready-to-wear, couture, colours to mention a few, all made from African fabrics. “I am ready for the international market,” she says.

THE event is set to start with red carpet cocktail reception, after which it will unveil the seven corporate colours representing the rainbow and the JD7 couture 2010 theme.
In addition to that, the show will also launch JD7 couture’s ready to wear collection — preview, fifth year anniversary fashion show and catwalk for the Love of fashion.
Having to select right fabrics, colours and designs that suit her clients’ complexion, shape and status have earned the outfit its well-deserved spot in the fashion industry.
“I tell my clients what suit them and what do not. I have a personal data file for all my clients. Just speaking to a client, I'm thinking of colour tones, fabrics that will complement the skin tone, even to my models. It comes to me naturally,” she says.
Okorodudu adds, “one of the challenges is getting the accessories to work with. There is a limit, in this part of the world, to the many beautiful accessories that you can use to spice up your outfits, which we do not have. But luckily, we have very creative people around and work with them often to make accessories for my clothes.”
According to her, “I get inspiration from people, from fabrics, from things around me, from other designers. Sometimes, if I wake up, something just comes to me. However, God gives me the greatest inspiration. If you go to the wild and you look at nature, you'll know that God is the greatest designer.”

Eyola’s chic and simple







OVER the years, the Most Promising Designer of the Year award winner of Arise Africa Fashion Week in Johannesburg, South Africa, Ayole Adede, has been able to distinguish herself with her creativity. The brain behind Eyola combines the reformist Victorian era with the liberal 21st Century designs to bring out the definition of true art. The Nigerian-born, United Kingdom-based designer, who has a master;s degree in Fashion Communication and Styling at Istituto Europeo di design (IED) in Milan, has a first degree in Business Management in UK. In between both degrees, I worked for designers including Alexander McQueen. She recently showed at the crazy-headgear show by sending her models walking down the catwalk sporting animal hairpieces.
She tells OYINDAMOLA LAWAL the secret of her designs.
When did you first start taking an interest in fashion?
It’s been something I have dreamt about and worked towards since a very young age.
How was it going into the fashion industry?
Well, to be honest it was exciting to finally showcase my ideas to the world. Few things I hope to bring back into the world of fashion such as exclusivity and a unique brand identity. You see many of the same designs repeatedly and I feel my brand is trying to raise the flag for exclusivity and people who want to dress in a unique style and in a brand, that only produces limited editions. You get this in Africa at the moment. In Africa, there's an art to dressing that, involves experimentation and individuality. I think the rest of the world used to share this vision but now fashion is becoming uniform and Eyola's mission is bringing back individuality.
What stands your designs out?
What stands out about Eyola is the special blend of tradition and innovation, craftsmanship and creativity. Each Octette has a distinctly fashion-forward signature so each piece is timeless and original, limited in number (only eight made of each design) and doesn't follow the trend of the moment. The concept of grouping each collection is also something different. Each group of designs is called an Octette (a name inspired by the figure 8 shape created by Victorian corsets). These 8 designs come in brightly coloured fabrics again inspired by this wonderful period's discovery of colourful fabric dyes. So, at Eyola, our focus is not only on creating one of a kind of designs, we also take pride in creating a unique brand identity.
Where do you get your inspiration?
The Victorian era. For me, this is the most important period in fashion's history. From the craftsmanship and detail that went into each piece to the discoveries such as bright colourful dyes, the sewing machine and new technologies in materials and fabrics. Of course, you also see during the end of this period the introduction of mass production, which is rather ironic. It is a complete contrast to the couture-led movement and that made the Victorian era such a seminal turning point in fashion. But this just shows the diversity of the period. I draw inspiration from the revolutionary couturiers of the time that in turn were inspired by newly discovered cultures and new approaches and techniques in dress making. Each individual garment had the full heart and soul of the dressmaker coursing through its veins, which is an attitude ingrained in Eyola's DNA.
Role model?
Can I have two? My parents
Your muse?
The couturier- Paul Poiret. He was a master of many firsts in fashion and is undeniably a major influence to all designers after him all the way to the present day. He was innovative (freeing women from the corset, introducing the brassiere and suspender belts to hold up stockings, experimenting with fabrics such as scraps of umbrella material and created very modern clothes inspired by different cultural dress), he encouraged women to be more daring in the way they dressed, he constantly evolved his style, he developed new methods of advertising and was the first to build a ‘brand’ expanding his product line beyond fashion to include accessories, interiors, perfume and even a school. Poiret to me was truly revolutionary. What’s the idea behind the names of your collection and clothing?
It's a play on word. For example, the new Octette is called `Tarcotsira', which is an anagram of the word Aristocrat What kind of fabrics do you use where do you source them? All my designs are made using the highest quality fabrics sourced in the UK from dealers who supply the biggest brands in luxury fashion. I am a big fan of fine wools and silks I guess because of the juxtaposition between their contrasting elements: fragility, strength, fluidity, and severity.
What do you look out for before designing?
Before I sketch, I look into my extensive library of vintage Victorian fashion, details and accessories. A particular detail on a hat, for example, might trigger an idea for a jacket. This idea-generating concept doesn't just start at the beginning of each Octette. Each design has its own story and unique identity from the others, as I tend to steer away from basing my entire Octette on a repeated theme like you frequently find in most designers’ collections. I make a conscious effort not to look at what other designers are doing or follow trends.
Shows and exhibitions you've showcased your outfit? Awards?
It was a great honour to win 'Most Promising Designer of the Year' Arise Africa Fashion Week where I also showcased my designs on the catwalk in Johannesburg. I have also exhibited in UK and USA. My designs have also been recognised by influential publications from UK’s The Times and The Independent newspapers to Vogue Italia to name a few.
Challenges?
Every industry is not without its challenges especially for an emerging brand entering the market. There are many obstacles and challenges you must face from striving for recognition for emerging brands to sustaining recognition for established brands. The challenge for each industry and each firm is really to keep evolving with the times but still keeping its core brand identity. Projection into the future More Octettes, more stockists, which are already in the pipeline including an online shop… the sky is the limit so watch this space!